See pictures below. Looking for a little direction here. The service manual is vague. I've got all the upper head bolts off and the wheel removed.
Page 80, section 9-6-1 #4 says to loosen the fork inner tubes clamp bolts so as to extract the outer tube downward. I have loosened the clamp bolts but the tubes are not dropping down. Also, when I remove the upper head, the instruments and wiring is all clustered up / attached. Should I remove all this for simplicities sake? The service manual does not say anything about it??
If its anything like mine was the fork inner tubes rust inside the head lamp brackets (ears). So might not want to drop through the lower triple clamp. As you have undone it take the top triple clamp off and list the headlamp and brackets up to see if the forks are rusty behind.
While your in there spray a little penetrating oil to help free things off. You could also gently pry open the slot the lower triple clamp to help free it up, but go easy you don't ant to crack the casting.
From what I can see in your pictures there is nothing but years of deacy and grime to stop them coming out!
I have loosened but not removed the bolts at the top of the springs. I will take them out completely and see if that is the issue. I will work on the upper triple and check for rust binding. Thanks for the tips. LM
use a flat blade screwdriver to open up the gap in the lower triple clamp a bit, they should slide out after that. just loosening the clamping bolts usually isn't enough, you have to apply a bit of pressure to get the gap to open up more
They usually stick on the lower triple tree due to rust, I have always used a wooden dowel from the top to help move them down. Don't use anything metal to pound them as you'll damage the threads for the top bolts. Worked every time for me.
Okay, the wooden dowel rules today. I bought the 1/2 inch size at Lowes and three taps on the top of each fork and they dropped right out. Now, I have to separate the Outer upper tube from the Outer lower tube, at the point where the red line is drawn in this photo, CORRECT??? What is best way to separate without causing damage from vice and pliers, etc?? Thanks again, LexPaul
Where you have the red mark, that would be the upper nut. It is threaded and comes off fairly easy. If you see any rust around the bottom of the nut, spray it with some penetrating oil to loosen it up. Wipe off any oil afterwards as the inner tube will slip when trying to turn the nut. Clamp the bottom end of the whole outer tube where the axle goes through in the vise, wrap something around it to stop scratches. If you have an old inner tube, wrap it around the upper nut ( I use two layers). Use a decent sized pipe wrench to loosen the nut, being careful that you don't pinch through the inner tube and scratch the nut. Vise grips are usually too small and will deform the nut if you clamp them on the nut, you don't want that as the fork seals are in the top of the nut and they won't seal properly after.
I got the top nut off. See two picture below. I wrapped the nut ten laps with duck tape and put the jumbo pliers to it and they came right apart. Thanks for all the input from you members.
I may try to "refinish" the lower fork tubes, strip them clean, prime, and paint. Any suggestions from the paint experts? Keep in mind, this is a very nice rider, not a show bike..
LexPaul wrote:I got the forks refinished and mounted. They came out great.
Thread revival... How did you get the seal out of the upper nut? I found a right-size socket that matched the back side of the seal and I figured some dead-blows and vice-squeeze would pop it out... NO LUCK... Any advice appreciated!
LexPaul wrote:I got the forks refinished and mounted. They came out great.
Thread revival... How did you get the seal out of the upper nut? I found a right-size socket that matched the back side of the seal and I figured some dead-blows and vice-squeeze would pop it out... NO LUCK... Any advice appreciated!
Update: Just wasn't hitting the socket hard enough. A few more heavy blows drove the seals right out.
